{"id":35365,"date":"2018-12-29T08:52:19","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T12:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=35365"},"modified":"2018-12-29T08:52:19","modified_gmt":"2018-12-29T12:52:19","slug":"20-years-ago-the-1998-sydney-to-hobart-yacht-race-disaster-recording-of-the-race-controller-frequency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/20-years-ago-the-1998-sydney-to-hobart-yacht-race-disaster-recording-of-the-race-controller-frequency\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years Ago: The 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race disaster &#8211; recording of the race controller frequency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-35367\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998-1024x660.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998-1024x660.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998-624x402.jpg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sydney-Hobart-Yacht-Race-Storm-1998.jpg 1081w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In response to our recent items about monitoring the <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/tag\/sydney-hobart-yacht-race\/\">Sydney to Hobart yacht race<\/a>, <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Neil Howard, shares the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1998_Sydney_to_Hobart_Yacht_Race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In 1998 this race was decimated by massive seas and storms<\/a>, which sunk 5 boats and tragically lives were lost.<\/p>\n<p>I happened to be recording frequency of the Race controller.<\/p>\n<p>After almost losing the recording , I posted it to YouTube back in 2011:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uh7VsG_CpqU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uh7VsG_CpqU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to view on YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Description of recording:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>HOW this was obtained<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">This recording of the HF transmissions from 1998 was recorded by me from Queensland, using a newfangled unattended recoding program on the PC and a very ordinary Sangean ATS-803a receiver using a random long wire Antenna &#8211; from memory this was on the 8 Mhz Marine band, and is the co-ordination of the search and rescue from the 28th Dec 1998 and covers from around 8:30PM till 10PM &#8211; The automated recorded stopped recording when the signal noise dropped below a certain level and thus some was lost.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The recording goes for 30 mins, as that was the limit that was set to save disk space, but there is a lot of empty noise.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">I have had this on a disk for 13 years now ( WOW!) and I had a serious disk crash, recently and almost lost everything&#8230;.. I place this here on youtube so it is not lost to prosperity &#8211; The race is on again right now, so This was good timing! I present this recording as it was recorded, warts and all for your education *** I dedicate this to those lost at sea<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Highlights &#8212; (Times are approximate) <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=251s\">4:11<\/a> &#8220;Rescue 253&#8221; 9A helicopter) locates a life-raft<\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=360s\">6:00<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> &#8220;Air force Sydney&#8221; is looking for a position of a yacht &#8221; Solo Global Challenge&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=410s\">6:50<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> &#8220;RTC Canberra&#8221; (Who is co-ordinating) has a &#8220;hot mic&#8221; and is explaining the situation to someone locally<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=515s\">8:35<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> &#8220;Rescue 253&#8221; has sighted 2 POB on the life-raft &#8211; RTC wants to know if they are from &#8220;Winston Churchill&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=579s\">9:39<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> Another &#8220;hot mic&#8221; in Canberra<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=716s\">11:56<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> &#8220;Tiger75&#8221; (A Navy Helicopter, I think) has the survivors on board, but still awaiting info on who they are<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=784s\">13:04<\/a><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=824s\">13:44<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> confirmation that there are 2 survivors of the &#8220;Winston Churchill&#8221; from the life raft, but the tragic news that 3 others had &#8220;rolled out&#8221; of the raft and are lost (Historical note- these three were listed as drowned)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=886s\">14:46<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> Discussion about where the survivors are to be taken by Tiger 75<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=920s\">15:20<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> Info of the survivors is passed though, along with the news that the life raft they were &#8220;in&#8221; had no bottom.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=993s\">16:33<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> Rescue 253 Says it has heard a beacon &amp; is proceeding to the location<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=1200s\">20:00<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> Another aircraft has gone to the search site from Merimbula (A town in New South Wales)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uh7VsG_CpqU&amp;t=1538s\">25:38<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> Rescue 253 updates beacon location<\/span><\/li>\n<li>26:30 Rescue 253 Locates a boat at the beacon site that has been dis-masted &amp; is in serious trouble.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is interesting (and harrowing) listening.<\/p>\n<p>They still use HF , but after the 1998 debacle, when they found they had little idea of actual positions for S&amp;R, they introduced regular scheds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Wow&#8211;what an amazing and sobering recording, Neil.\u00a0 Thank you for sharing and giving us an opportunity to remember those who lost their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Note that there&#8217;s a documentary about the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race on YouTube. <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wgsp_kHicu8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to watch Part 1<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Z5554FxUXwg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here to watch Part 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In response to our recent items about monitoring the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, SWLing Post contributor, Neil Howard, shares the following: In 1998 this race was decimated by massive seas and storms, which sunk 5 boats and tragically lives were lost. I happened to be recording frequency of the Race controller. After almost losing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,746,43],"tags":[2709,7493,2568,34,2569,7487],"class_list":["post-35365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-recordings","category-shortwave-radio","tag-emergency-communications","tag-neil-howard","tag-radio-in-disasters","tag-shortwave","tag-shortwave-in-disasters","tag-sydney-hobart-yacht-race"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-9cp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51333,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/boxing-day-monitor-the-sydney-to-hobart-race-via-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":35365,"position":0},"title":"Boxing Day: Monitor the Sydney to Hobart Race via Shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"December 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who shares the following information via Tecsun Radios Australia: Follow The Sydney to Hobart Race Via Your Radio! For the last 76 years, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been run on Boxing Day December 26. Sadly last year due to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/662px-Sydney_to_hobart_yacht_race_route.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/662px-Sydney_to_hobart_yacht_race_route.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/662px-Sydney_to_hobart_yacht_race_route.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35350,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/terry-remembers-monitoring-an-eventful-sydney-to-hobart-yacht-race\/","url_meta":{"origin":35365,"position":1},"title":"Terry remembers monitoring an eventful Sydney to Hobart yacht race","author":"Thomas","date":"December 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Terry Cominos, who shred the following story following our recent post about the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Terry writes: Here is my story... It must have been 20 plus years ago whilst monitoring the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on my AOR AR3000.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/AOR-3000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/AOR-3000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/AOR-3000.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35332,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/sydney-hobart-yacht-race-frequencies\/","url_meta":{"origin":35365,"position":2},"title":"Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Frequencies","author":"Thomas","date":"December 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jerome van der Linden, who writes: I just found after reviewing a 16 page PDF of regulations etc from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, some relevant information for listeners who may want to try to hear the boat to shore communications of yachts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Current Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Current Events","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/current-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1B3D877C-EEEB-4210-B27D-3F8B4B7576AE.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1B3D877C-EEEB-4210-B27D-3F8B4B7576AE.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1B3D877C-EEEB-4210-B27D-3F8B4B7576AE.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1B3D877C-EEEB-4210-B27D-3F8B4B7576AE.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34651,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/hobart-radio-internationals-three-part-interval-signals-specials\/","url_meta":{"origin":35365,"position":3},"title":"Hobart Radio International&#8217;s three part interval signals specials","author":"Thomas","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who writes: While listening to my recording of yesterday's Unique Radio broadcast over WINB, I noticed that the Radio Hobart International segment featured the second of a three-part interval signals special. 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We include famous speeches aired by Chamberlain,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"documentryww2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DocumentryWW2-136x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21943,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/hobart-radio-international-b16-schedule\/","url_meta":{"origin":35365,"position":5},"title":"Hobart Radio International B16 schedule","author":"Thomas","date":"October 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Hobart Radio International on Facebook) We're getting ready for the B16. Here is our new schedule. Changes include WRMI reductions and Ch292 commencement. We air for the first time on Channel 292 6070 Nov 5th.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hobart-radio-international","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Hobart-Radio-International.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Hobart-Radio-International.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Hobart-Radio-International.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}